US Name Trends

Allison

A Norman French diminutive of Alice, so from the Germanic “noble kind.”

1994peak year
No. 30best rank (2009)
322,944babies since 1880
No. 103rank in 2025

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Allison per year — peak 8,150▬ girls ▬ boys18801900192019401960198020002020

Allison appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in 50 different years between 1974 and 2024. Its biggest year was 1994, when 8,150 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 34 nationally. Its best ranking came in 2009, at No. 30. In 2025 it ranked No. 103 for girls. All told, 322,944 Americans have been given the name since 1880.

Related names

Other spellings on record: Alison (117,481), Allyson (53,779), Alyson (29,740), Alisson (7,049), Allisson (2,842), Alysson (1,569) (total births since 1880)

Other names that share a story: Alice

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By the decade

DecadeBirthsBest rank
1900s6No. 1862
1910s145No. 1411
1920s227No. 1279
1930s236No. 1307
1940s680No. 705
1950s4,553No. 264
1960s16,525No. 128
1970s34,158No. 66
1980s62,327No. 42
1990s74,433No. 34
2000s59,966No. 30
2010s49,003No. 34
2020s16,860No. 80

Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.

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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.